Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We're located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m.
Nursery is provided for all services. For more information, visit our
website at toddroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled this message, Why
Was Christ Baptized? We read in Matthew 3, verse 13,
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized
of him. Now, why was the Lord Jesus Christ
baptized? I can see why I need to be baptized
and you need to be baptized, and it's not to save. Water baptism
doesn't save anybody, but every believer is called upon to confess
Christ in believer's baptism. I can see why believers are baptized,
but why was Christ baptized? To answer that question, we're
going to have to understand what baptism means. I think of how many hundreds
of millions of people over the years have been baptized. since John was baptizing. Now,
there was no baptisms in the Old Testament like New Testament
baptism, but how many hundreds of millions of people have been
baptized over the centuries? And I wonder how many people
really understand what baptism means. Now, the word means to
immerse. The translators did not give
a translation of it when they used the word baptized. That's
a transliteration. That is taking the Greek word
and putting it—spelling it out like an English word. It's not
really giving the word because the word means literally to immerse,
to immerse, submerge all the way under, and emerge back up. That's what the word means. It was used first, found in Greek
language, dealing with baptizing clothing into dye. You would
take the piece of cloth and dip it all the way under the dye,
all the way under, and then bring it back up. To baptize means
to immerse. Now, in Hebrews chapter 6, verse
2, we read of the doctrine of baptisms. It's a part of the
foundational doctrine of the New Testament, repentance from
dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying
on of hand, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
You can read about that in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. That
is said to be the foundational truths of the gospel. And one
of those truths are the doctrine of baptisms, and notice baptism
is in the plural. Now, baptism is by immersion. It's not by sprinkling. But you
can have the right mode of baptism and still miss the meaning altogether
because it's got a meaning. There's something that is meant
by this thing of baptism. Now, we read of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. The Lord spoke of being baptized
or immersed in the fire. We have water baptism or water
immersion, but they're all teaching the same thing. The doctrine
of baptisms is the doctrine of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when a man is baptized,
if he understands what baptism means, he's making this confession.
My hope of salvation is union with the Lord Jesus Christ. When
He lived, I lived because I'm united to Him. When He died,
and was buried. I died and was buried because
I'm united to Him. When He was punished for sin,
I was punished for sin. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead because I am united to Him. We find the
gospel illustrated in this rite of baptism. It's not a sacrament.
It doesn't have any It's not a way of conveying grace to somebody. When people call them the sacraments,
it's not what the Bible teaches. Grace is not conferred through
baptism, but baptism teaches such something. It teaches union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is meant by union?
Hebrews 2.11 says, both he that sanctifyeth and they who are
sanctified are all of one. Not closely joined together.
They're all of one. The one who's sanctified is the
one who sanctified us, we're one.
The ones who are sanctified are one with Him. That's speaking
of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is something
that can't possibly be understood, but certainly believed. Every
believer is eternally united with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
in Ephesians 5, verse 28, We read, he that loveth his wife
loveth himself. And there it's speaking of Christ's
relationship to the church. He says, I know this is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. When Christ
loved his wife, he was loving himself. That's how close this
union is. We read in 2 Timothy 2.13, if
we believe not, he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. For him to deny any part of his
body would be for him to deny himself. Union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. I think this can be illustrated
from Hebrews 7 when it says that Levi paid tithes in Abraham. It doesn't say when Abraham paid
tithes it was credited to Levi's account. It says Levi paid those
tithes when Abraham paid those tithes because he was in the
loins of his father Abraham so that what Abraham did, I did. Now this is similar to the fall. When Adam fell, you and I fell. because we were in Him. When
He sinned, you and I sinned, because we were in Him. Romans
5.12 says, For by one man sin entered the world, and death
by sin, so that death passed upon all men, in that all have
sinned. When Adam sinned, Todd and Ibert
sinned. Somebody says, well, does that
mean it was credited to my account? No, it means I actually sinned,
because I was in my father Adam. And in the same way, when Christ
kept the law, I kept the law because I was in Him. Now, water baptism says union
with Christ is my only hope of salvation. Now, when the Lord
spoke of the baptism of fire that He was to experience in
Luke chapter 12, being totally immersed under the wrath of God,
what's the reason behind it? union, union with me so that
he became what I am. He took my sins and my sorrows. He became what I am because he
was united to me. That's what union means. That's
why he was immersed under the wrath of God. My sin became his
sin, so that he actually became guilty of it, though he never
committed sin in his person. Yet, my sin became his sin because
he united himself to me. The baptism of the Holy Spirit
speaks of union with Christ. The reason I am born of Him is
because I'm in Him. Whatever aspect of baptism you're
thinking of in the Scripture, it speaks of union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this is really the believer's
public confession of Christ. Now, all that stuff about going
down to the front of the church, you know, they have an altar
call and all that foolishness, and that's what it is. It's foolishness.
It's not found in the Bible. It didn't even start until the
1800s. It wasn't even known in the church
before that. That's not confessing Christ,
coming down to the front of the church and shaking the preacher's
hand and and asking for prayer and so on. No, your confession,
your public confession of Christ is baptism. By baptism, I'm publicly
confessing that my only hope of salvation is that I'm united
to Christ. And when he was baptized, here's
what he was doing. He was confessing his union with
his people. We confess union with Him in
our baptism. He confesses union with us in
His baptism. That's so important. You don't
really understand baptism apart from understanding this thing
of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The two shall be one
flesh. Speaking of marriage, he says,
I'm speaking concerning Christ and the church. Marriage pictures
this glorious gospel where the two become one and Can this be
understood, how I've always been united to the Lord Jesus Christ?
No, I can't understand it, but I believe it. Both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause
he's not ashamed to call them brethren. Then cometh Jesus,
verse 13, from Galilee to Jordan and to John to be baptized of
him. Verse 14, but John forbade him. saying, I have need to be
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Now put yourself
in John's place. If the Lord Jesus Christ came
to you and asked you to baptize him, you would probably feel
very awkward and think, I shouldn't be doing this. And that's exactly
the way John felt. John knew he was a sinner, and
he knew who the Son of God was. Now, he was six months older
than the Lord. He was the cousin of the Lord.
And when his mother Elizabeth came to visit Mary when she was
burying the Lord Jesus in her womb, the Scripture says John
leaped in the womb when he heard of this. The Scripture says he
was filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb. Now, does
that mean he was regenerated from his mother's womb and have
this new nature? I guess it does. I can't explain
that. I don't know what all it means, but the Scripture says
he was filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb. And he
leaped in the womb when he heard the tidings of Mary about the
son she was going to have. But also know that John spent
his youth and his life in the wilderness. He didn't live in
town. He wasn't educated the way other
people are educated. The Lord's hand was on him as
he grew up in the wilderness. And I don't know that he'd ever
seen the Lord Jesus before. But when Christ came to be baptized
of him, that's when God the Holy Spirit came in visible presence
like a dove and the Lord the Father had told John the Baptist
that whoever you see the Spirit come down like a dove on and
remain there, he is my son. So John knew that this is the
Son of God. And he was totally awkward. I have need to be baptized of
thee, and comest thou to me? And look at the Lord's answer,
verse 15, and if you would understand the gospel, there's nothing that
explains the gospel more clearly than this verse. And Jesus answering
said unto him, Suffer it to be so now. I know it doesn't seem
appropriate, but suffer it to be so now. Listen to this statement. For thus it becometh us. to fulfill all righteousness."
Everything the Lord did, he did as an us with all of those who
are united to him. He says to John the Baptist,
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now notice
what he didn't say. He didn't say, thus it becometh me to fulfill
all righteousness and then charge it to your account. You know,
that really doesn't give me any comfort, because it doesn't seem
real. But that's not what the Lord
says. He says, thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Who is the us? The same us that
Paul spake of in Romans 8.31 when he said, if God be for us.
who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he to condemn? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
maketh intercession for us. Now that's the us the Lord was
speaking of when he said, thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Now, what a blessed thing baptism
typifies. Everything the Lord did, He did
as an us. When He kept God's law perfectly,
everyone in him did as well. That's what he's talking about
when he said, Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. When he suffered the wrath of
God, being forsaken by God as the sinner's substitute, I was
too. I was forsaken in Him. That's what I deserved. He took
what I am, what I deserve, and it became His. We were never
separated. He was made sin, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
When He suffered the very full wrath of God, I suffered the
full wrath of God. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. This is the hope of every believer
that they're united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me repeat. This is not something you can
understand, but can you understand the Trinity? Can you understand
how God is one God and three separate persons? God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Of course you can't understand
that, but you believe it. It's what the Bible teaches.
And this thing of union with Christ, it's what the Bible teaches. Do I understand how I can have
always been united to Him? That He says to me, behold, I've
loved you with an everlasting love, a love that never had a
beginning, that's always been. No, I don't understand that,
but if I could explain God, there wouldn't be much to it, would
there? He would be too much like me, but thank God He's incomprehensible. He's God. And every believer is united
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me give you a story.
within the story of Christ being baptized in the fire. When he
was on Calvary's tree, and that's what he was speaking of in Luke
12, when he said, I have a baptism to be baptized with. And he'd
already gone through this water baptism. But he was talking about
being totally immersed in the wrath of God. And every body
he represented at that time was immersed in the wrath of God.
And when I think of him understanding what was getting ready to take
place. He knew that he was going to be made sin. Now, you and
I can't possibly understand that, because sin doesn't bother us
that much. We're used to it. But he, in his holiness, knew
he was getting ready to bear the sins of his people. And that's
why he was saying in Gethsemane's garden, if it be possible, let
this cup pass for me. He knew what that cup was, drinking
the sins of his people, being made sin, being made that which
he hated, bearing the awful frown of his father, being forsaken
of his father. And while that was actually going
on, when he was nailed to the tree, there was a man by the
name of Barabbas. Do you remember him in the Scripture?
When the Pilate said, Do you want me to release Barabbas or
Christ? And they said, Crucify Christ
and release Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber. He was a murderer. He was, the
scripture called, a notable prisoner, a notorious prisoner. He was
a wicked man. He was an evil man. Now, here
he lays in his prison cell, and he knows that he's to be scheduled
to be crucified that day. And the guards come, and I can't
even imagine the pressure he must have felt, because no matter
how wicked he was, can you imagine how you dreaded if you knew you
were going to be nailed to a cross? He knew that was going to happen
to him that very day. And when the guards opened the
gate, I'm sure he felt a sense of dread that can't even be expressed. And how do you think he felt
when the guards told him, you're free? That very day, he thought
he was going to be crucified. And the guards come to him and
say, you've been set free. Somebody has taken your place.
They requested for you to be released and Christ Jesus to
be crucified. Now, how many times has this
happened? The innocent being punished and
the guilty being set free. Now, that happened at this time.
The innocent was punished, and the guilty was set free. Christ
never sinned, and yet this man was as evil and wicked and notorious
as he could be, and he set free. The guilty was set free, and
the innocent was punished. Do you know that's not what really
took place? That's not what really took place. Proverbs 17, verse
15 says that, He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth
the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Now,
if the innocent is punished, and if the guilty are set free,
is that just? Is that right? Let's say my daughter
committed a horrible crime and she was to be executed for it.
And I love her so much, I'll say, honey, I'll stand in your
place. They can execute me. You know, they wouldn't do that.
You know why? Because it'd be unjust. I didn't commit the crime,
she did. The person who committed the
crime is the person who must be punished. Now, here is the
mystery of the gospel. Christ took my sin so that it
became His sin, so that He actually became guilty of the commission
of it. He took my sins and my sorrows
and made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone when he was forsaken by God. That's
because that is exactly what he deserved. He was guilty. The reason he didn't try to defend
himself While he was before those mock tribunals with Pilate and
Herod and the chief priests is because he knew he was guilty. My sin, the sins of all the elect
became his sin so that he actually became guilty of the commission
of them. That's why he died. And when
I'm set free, it's truly the innocent being set free. I don't
have any sin. I don't have any guilt. He put
it all away. It's what the Bible calls justification.
Now, if you're justified, that means you're not guilty of anything.
That means you didn't sin. You see, my sin became his sin
because he was united to me. He was united to me so closely
that he was made to be what I am, sin, that I might be made to
be what he is, the very righteousness of God in him. II Corinthians
5.21 says, For he, God, hath made him to be sin. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him." Now, I love to think
about John lowering the Lord into the water. And when he was
raised up, the scripture says the heavens were opened. Perhaps John saw a dimension
that he'd never seen before. and the scripture says the Spirit
of God. Let me read this to you. In Jesus, verse 16, when he was
baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the
heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove and lighting upon him. You see, the Lord Jesus
Christ has the Spirit, had the Spirit, without measure. Every believer has a measure
of the Spirit because we've been born of the Spirit. But he had
the Spirit without measure. Everything he did was God doing
it. Yes, it was a man doing it, but
it was God doing it. He had the Spirit without measure.
He spake as one having authority. not as the scribes." I love,
in the Sermon on the Mount, six times he said, you've heard it
been said of them of old, but I say it to you. I'm the final
authority. And that sermon is concluded
with these words, they were astonished at his doctrine because he spake
as one having authority and not as the scribes. He had the Spirit
without measure. And John testified of this. And then we read where a voice
came from heaven. Verse 17, And lo, a voice from
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Now,
the Lord had lived 30 years in obscurity, working out a perfect
righteousness. And I love to think of the Father
looking down upon His Son, the Son of His love, and He was well
pleased. This is my beloved son, the son
of my love." Now, when the father loved the son, he didn't love
him unconditionally, did he? You see, the son was altogether
lovely. Everything about him drew out
the father's love because of who he is. As a matter of fact,
there's no such thing as unconditional love. Somebody says, I want somebody
to love me unconditionally. That's not going to do any good.
you love somebody because there's something about them that's lovely.
And in Christ, I'm lovely. In Christ, being united to Him,
I draw out the Father's love. He looks at me, and as He is,
so are we in this world, 1 John 4, 17 says. Is He altogether
lovely? Then so is every believer. It's
not unconditional love. Now, there's nothing I do to
earn it in my flesh, I realize that. I didn't meet some kind
of condition that enabled the Father to love me. But I'm united
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I'm well pleased. And don't miss that. He didn't
say, with whom I'm well pleased, although he was. But he says,
in whom I'm well pleased. You know what that means? Everybody
in Him the Father is well-pleased with. He sees no sin. He sees no deformity. He sees no wickedness. He sees
nothing but that which He is well-pleased with. Now, this is the Father speaking
from heaven. And you know, he said this from heaven on another
occasion, on the Mount of Transfiguration, when the Lord was transfigured
before his disciples, and his face shined as the sun, and they
saw his divinity burst through his humanity. And Peter, bless
his heart, he had to say something. He said, Lord, it's good for
us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for you and
one for Moses and one for Elijah." Those are the two men who appeared. And while they were speaking,
the scripture says, a bright cloud came down from heaven and
overshadowed them. And they were scared to death.
And they heard a voice from that cloud. This is my beloved Son,
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. You see, they were
putting too much stock in Moses and Elijah, saying, let us make
three tabernacles. No, Moses and Elijah are just
sinners saved by grace. The one to hear is the Son. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." Now, listen to me. If you're in Christ, God
is well pleased with you, just as He's well pleased with His
Son. Near, so near to God, nearer
I cannot be in the person of His dear Son, I'm as near to
God as He. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. For in the person of His dear
Son, I'm as dear to God as He. This is what made Paul cry out,
O that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. If
you're in Him, all God sees is Him. And that's all you want
Him to see. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church or write,
we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. Amen. To receive
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request
to tod.nybert at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.